Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

$215k in raises to go to administrative assistants, custodial staff, public safety officers

Megan Petersen, Daily Times
Published 5:00 p.m. MT Nov. 8, 2017

CLOSE

Final stage of compensation study recommendations will take effect Jan. 1

Buy Photo

Members of San Juan College's Board of Trustees listen as San Juan College President Toni Pendergrass presents information during a regular meeting on Tuesday.(Photo: Megan Petersen, The Daily Times)Buy Photo

Story Highlights

The college's Board of Trustees commissioned a compensation study in 2014.

The first two stages of implementing recommendations were completed in July 2014 and January 2016.

FARMINGTON — San Juan College will finish a multi-year process of implementing salary increases for staff members at the beginning of the new year.

More than $200,000 in raises will affect lower-compensated employees the most, said Kerri Langoni, associate vice president for human resources at San Juan College.

“Custodial (staff), public safety officers and administrative assistants are the three categories of employees that will be seeing the largest increase in January,” Langoni said, adding “what the Condrey study found was that a lot of our employees were already at market value for their work, but those that were lower down on the pay scale were under market, so it’s really done a lot to bring those folks up to market (and) they’re seeing the biggest impact.”

During a regular meeting on Tuesday, the college’s Board of Trustees approved the final implementation of recommendations from the Condrey study, a compensation study commissioned by the board in 2014 “to evaluate, review and revise the compensation system of the college,” Langoni said.

The study recommended the college implement $1.7 million in pay increases, which it has done in three phases over several years.

“That’s a large sum, so implementation was done in stages to spread the budgetary impact across more than one fiscal year and as funding became available,” Langoni said.

The first stage was completed in July 2014, with 50 percent of the recommendations implemented. The second stage, or 25 percent of the recommendations, was completed in January 2016.

Buy Photo

San Juan College Board of Trustees Chairman John Thompson, right, swears in new board member Joe Rasor during a regular meeting on Tuesday at San Juan College.(Photo: Megan Petersen, The Daily Times)

The final rollout will cost the college $215,000, and the salary increases will go into effect Jan. 1, Langoni said.

Langoni said it was important for the college to finish implementing the study and bring wages up to market value because “our employees are our most valuable resource."

The board of trustees unanimously approved the final rollout without discussion during Tuesday's meeting, though Joseph Pope, vice chairman of the board, said it was a “great moment” after the vote was cast and as the audience applauded.

A new board member was also sworn in during Tuesday’s meeting. Joe Rasor, a former Bloomfield School District superintendent and longtime educator, is the new trustee for District 4, or the Bloomfield area.

The next Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Dec. 5.

Megan Petersen covers business and education for The Daily Times. Reach her at 505-564-4621 or mpetersen@daily-times.com.